Friday, April 13, 2012

It would be fair to say I have a lot of
balls in the air. In addition to the work I do for Earlham
School of Religion, I am involved in planting a new
Quaker Meeting, doing foreclosure resistance with Occupy
Our Homes DC, organizing with Occupy
Faith and Occupy Church,
and meeting various responsibilities within the wider Quaker
community. Recently, I realized that each week I probably spend about
twenty hours in meetings across the city - not including the time it
takes to commute between them! Add to this all of the one-on-one
appointments and out-of-town trips that I take, and just building and
maintaining relationships has become a full-time job.

I have heard that Martin Luther once
said, "I have so much business I cannot get on without spending
three hours daily in prayer." I see the truth of this. Though I
do not yet spend three hours a day in prayer, as the intensity of my
daily schedule grows, so too does my need for time alone with God.
Without a steady discipline of waiting worship, song, Scripture and
writing - without taking time each day to focus only on Christ and
his will for me - I would be lost in a flood of anxiety.

I know that I am not the first one to
experience this. Examining Scripture, it seems that this type of
daily discernment has been going on since the beginning of the
Church. I find this passage from Acts 6:1-4 particularly striking:

Now, during those days, when the
disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained
against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the
daily distribution of food. And the twelve called together the whole
community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we
should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore,
friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing,
full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task,
while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to
serving the word." (Acts 6:1-4)

There was so much work to do within the
early Christian community that the original twelve apostles were
unable to keep up. There were thousands of people living in
intentional community with needs to be met. The demands of logistics
were clearly enormous, and yet just twelve men were being expected to
carry the entire burden. Clearly, something was wrong with this
picture!

It would be silly to pretend that I
have as much on my plate as the twelve apostles did. Nevertheless, I
do draw inspiration from the example that they set. They saw clearly
that they were not capable of fulfilling every role within the
community, and they had the wisdom invite the gifts that were present
in the rest of the Church. There was no way that the twelve could
manage the logistical needs of the burgeoning community in Jerusalem
while at the same time preaching the good news of Jesus Christ
throughout the city and the region. The apostles were clear that God
was calling them to focus on sharing the gospel, and they had the
foresight and humility to say, "We cannot do everything. We need
help."

As my life fills with increasing
responsibilities, I am routinely called to take a step back, humble
myself in prayer, and ask God what it is precisely that I am called
to do. There is usually just a small cluster of tasks that God is
directing me to at any given time. By grounding myself in a daily
practice of seeking God in prayer, submitting myself to the guidance
of the Spirit, I am able to lay down everything except that
particular handful of tasks that God is calling me to.

When I trust in Christ's guidance, he
preserves me from burn-out. He gives me the strength and energy I
need for the work he has called me to. Equally important, God gives
me the opportunity to empower others to live into their own
particular callings. When I try to do everything, I often get in the
way of others, taking over where they should be leading. By
faithfully attending to the particular role that God has assigned me
in this moment, I can create space for others to exercise their
gifts, as well.

How do you balance the many demands of
work and social responsibilities? What is the place of prayer, study
and reflection in your daily life? How have you learned to say "yes"
to the service that God is calling you to, while encouraging others
to pick up the pieces that you cannot carry?